Mark 15:15

And Pilate wishing to content the multitude, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

Mark here passed over a great deal of material, in all probability out of respect to the fact of its prior publication in Matthew. See the introduction to this chapter.

Scourged him ... From the manner of the sacred authors' mentioning it, some have supposed that Jesus was scourged twice, but this is not true. As Bickersteth said:

Pilate anticipated the time of the scourging, in the vain hope that by this means he might save our Lord from capital punishment. A comparison of Mark with Matthew and John makes this clear; for they all three refer to one and the same scourging.[5]

Had scourged him ... has the meaning of Pilate's having done so earlier in the trial.

Pilate's bumbling attempts to release Jesus and his obvious knowledge of Jesus' innocence resulted in the canonization of St. Pilate (!) by the Abyssinian church;[6] but the more accurate judgment of history has been preserved in the phrase from the Apostles' Creed, "Suffered under Pontius Pilate." There is no way that this weak and vacillating governor deserves anything except the infamy which fell upon his name. He knew Jesus was innocent; and, after announcing such a verdict, he should have had the guts to release Jesus and order the soldiers in the tower of Antonio to disperse the mob.

[5] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 305.

[6] A. Elwood Sanner, op. cit., p. 404.